THE councillor responsible for education in Surrey has pledged to re-examine the school place system slammed for sending pupils to schools miles from their homes.

County councillor Peter Martin said he understood the concerns of parents from Claygate, Molesey and Cobham whose children have been allocated spots at Rydens in Walton rather than the nearer Esher High.

The executive member for schools however stopped short of promising a complete solution and told the effected parents not to “hold out hope for this year”.

But speaking to the News & Mail , Cllr Martin said that many more places would be made available at schools in Esher after those already allocated places for September moved instead to the private sector.

“No two years are the same,” he said. “The difficulty is we can get it right one year and it can be wrong the following year.

“I recognise the difficulties and that people are unhappy so we have agreed to have another look but I would not want people to hold out hope for this year.

“However many of the offers that we make will not be taken up as people go off to the independent sector and as those numbers fall away Esher High and Hinchley Wood will be able to take waiting list parents, so the situation should improve from a parents’ perspective.”

When letters were sent to parents earlier this month, it was revealed that 30 places had been axed at Esher High, while 142 places had been added at Rydens.

Cllr Martin said the Walton school had the capacity to take on more students and had received a very impressive Ofsted report.

He added: “I do recognise the issue of distance that is concerning parents and I entirely understand their position.”

At a meeting last week – described by Cllr Martin as “very productive” – officers from Surrey County Council met representatives from Claygate Class Action, a group set up to protest against the allocations.

Chairman Sarah Whittaker said: “What we want SCC to do is reinstate the places removed from Esher High. This will go someway towards a solution and the officer said it would be discussed.”

Last week, MP for Esher & Walton Ian Taylor branded the system a “mess”, but Mr Martin, who has been through the process himself as a parent, argued it was a difficult job to please everyone.

He pointed out that nine out of 10 of the 27,000 children involved had received a place at one of their preferred schools.

He added: “I realise that is cold comfort for the people of Claygate but the route of appeal is still there for parents and many of them will take advantage of this.